One hundred construction companies and associations have pledge to hire 100,000 veterans by 2019, answering a call from first lady Michelle Obama to employ vets to "send a clear message that we honor those who've sacrificed for us."

According to an Associated Press story there will be an announcement about the hiring initiative Monday at a conference sponsored by the Labor Department and Joining Forces, a program stared by Michelle
Obama and Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, to rally support for veterans and active duty service members.

The announcement will mark the first time an entire industry has pledged to ensure that veterans will be considered when hiring new employees, the story said.

“By hiring veterans, businesses won't just be giving American heroes the chances they deserve to keep serving our country,” the first lady wrote in an opinion piece in Monday editions of The Wall Street Journal. “And the companies won't just be giving veterans' families the security that comes with a steady paycheck.”

“These businesses will also be ensuring that they have the qualified employees they need to keep growing and creating new jobs and strengthening the economy for decades to come,” she wrote. “They will be sending a clear message that we honor those who've sacrificed for us, and are determined to serve them as well as they have served our country.”

Nearly 180,000 construction jobs were created in the past year, according to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, and about 1.5 million of those type jobs are forecast to be added through 2022. Construction workers are paid on average around $20 an hour, not including benefits, Perez added.